Process and apparatus for manufacturing design roofing



R. A. HOLDSWORTH @cft. 6, 1936.

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING DESIGN ROOFING Filed Oct. 18,1933 INVENTOR R, H, floldsworfh ATTORNEY ZPatented Get. 6, 1936 PROCESSAND APPARATUS FOR MANUFAC- TUBING DESIGN ROOFING Richard A. Holdsworth,New York, N. Y., assignor to The Barrett Company, New York, N. Y., acorporation of New Jersey Application October 18, 1933, Serial No.694,125

8 Claims.

This invention relates to roofing and more particularly to theproduction of roofing or siding having the exposed face formed with adesired pattern or design.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a novel method andmeans for applying bituminous coating material to either plain saturatedfelt or mineral-surfaced sheet roofing in the form of a pattern ordesign.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus andprocess for applying a design or pattern of bituminous material tomineral-surfaced roll roofing or shingles and thereafter surfacing thebituminous design with comminuted mineral material of a contrastingAnother object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus forapplying a design to a sheet of roofing material in which viscous orplastic bituminous material or bituminous mastic is forced through astencil onto the roofing by means of suitable pressure rolls.

Prior to this invention it was common practice in the roofing industryto apply ornamental designs or patterns to saturated felt ormineralsurfaced roll roofing material by contacting the roofing basewith a suitable printing roll, rotating in a bath of coating material.

In the process of the present invention, positive pressure is employedfor forcing the coating material through the stencil onto the sheet ofroofing. This method permits the use of relatively viscous coatingmaterial so that a fairly thick layer can be applied to the roofing andsharply defined designs produced.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference should be made tothe accompanying drawing wherein is shown by way of illustration thepreferred method of carrying out the invention.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic sketch showing a pre- I As shown in Fig. 1, asheet of saturated roofing,

felt I is fed from a suitable source of supply and contacted with anendless perforated belt 2 which may be of steel or other flexibledurable material. The belt passes around spaced rollers 4 and 5 drivenat a suitable speed through any suitable drive (not shown). Between thespaced rollers is a rotating coatingroll I which abuts tangentiallyagainst the upper face of the endless belt passing thereunder.Vertically beneath saturated felt, the belt is first given anapplication of anti-stick solution, such as a solution of soap andwater. This solution may be applied by means of a suitable applicationroll 6, the surface of which is wetted with anti-stick solution fed fromsupply tank 8. The anti-stick solution prevents the belt from stickingto the coating material or coated felt sheet, insures the production ofa clear cut design or pattern, and permits the ready separation of thestencil or pattern belt from the coated sheet.

After the felt sheet I is contacted with the revolving perforated belt 2they pass together horizontally over roll 5 1!, adapted to keep the beltand the roofing in close contact, and then travel between the pair ofrotating coating rolls l and 9. Just before they pass between thecoating rolls, coating material I2 is fed onto the upper face of theperforated endless belt by means of feed pipe l3. As the coatingmaterial, perforated belt, and

the sheet of saturated felt in contact therewith of the sheet is coatedwith waterproofing material, such as asphalt, and the upper face has acoating of plastic waterproofing material suchas asphalt simultaneouslyapplied thereto in a desired pattern or design.

The resultant coated sheet, after passing roll l5, disposedbeneathroller 5, is stripped from the rotating endless belt. The coatingmaterial which was forced through the perforated felt remains on thefelt sheet andforms a design or pattern the "exact configuration ofwhich depends upon the perforationsor open spaces in the belt. 5 Thecoated'felt sheet is then given a surfacing of comminuted mineralmaterial which adheres to the cementitious coated portions and not tothe non-cementitious uncoated. portions. This surfacing may be appliedby passing the sheet under 5 from the hopper l1.

a grit hopper I? from which a stream of grit particles such as crushedstone, slate, or other mineral granules may be fed onto the sheet bymeans of a distribution roll l8. A seal-back coating of some suitablematerial such as powdered soapstone, mica fiak'es, etc. may then beapplied to the under surface of the sheet. The surfaced sheet may thenbe passed through suitable pressure rolls which partially embed the gritparticles in the coating and cause them to firmly adhere thereto.

During the return of the endless perforated belt from roller 5 back toroller 4, the inside face of the belt is contacted with a scraper 20.This scraper removes from the belt any coating material which may beadhering thereto and thus cleans and prepares the belt for the nextcoating operation. As hereinabove pointed out the belt is provided witha film of anti-stick solution from tank 8 before being brought intocontact with the saturated felt.

If it is desired to produce a double-coating product, a sheet ofmineral-surfaced roofing (as for example felt saturated with asphalt,coated on both sides with asphalt surfaced'on one side with mineralgranules and having mica applied to the other side) may be used in placeof the saturated felt as described above. Operating with mineralsurfacedfelt it is unnecessary to coat the under side and consequently thecoating material is drained from coating pan ill, the bottom coatingroll' 9 acting as a pressure roll and cooperating with roll 1 to causethe application of the coating in sharply defined patterns. After thecoating operation has been performed, comminuted mineral materialcontrasting in color with the grit surfacing of the base may be appliedto the base This comminuted mineral material will adhere only to thecementitious coated portions of the base and will form a desig againstthe contrasting background.

It is obvious that the above described procedures make it possible toform rool roofing having a wide variety of designs or patterns. Theexact design obtained depends entirely upon the type of perforated beltused. For instance, if the belt stencil 21, the walls of which are cutout to permit the passage of coating material therethrough in the formof a suitable design, may be used instead ofthe endless perforated beltof Fig. 1. Eccentrically disposed within the perforated cylinder orstencil is a top coating roll 29. Supply pipe 30 feeds coating materialinto the interior of the stencil on one side of coating roll 29. Abottom coating roll 3| is placed vertically below the top coating rollin such a manner that a small clearance is provided between the outersurface of the stencil and the surface of the bottom coating roll. Thelower coating roll is adapted to rotate ina bath of coating materialcontained" incoating pan 32. v

In carrying out the processwith this modified apparatus, saturatedroofingfelt is first passed over roll 33 and contacted with the outersurface of the rotating perforated cylinder or stencil 21.

' The perforated cylinder may previously be given an application of soapsolution or other antistick preparation in any suitable manner, as forexample by means of application roll 6 and'supply tank 8. As thecylinder 21 and coating rolls 29 and 3| rotate, coating material fromsupply pipe 30 will be squeezed through the cut-out portions in the wallof the cylinder and be deposited on the upper side of the sheet ofsaturated felt. Simultaneously, the bottom coating roll 3 i, rotating inpan 32, will apply a thin film of coating material to the lower side ofthe felt sheet. After passing between the rolls, the coated felt sheetis stripped from the perforated cylinder and is given a surfacecoatingof granular material fed from grit hopper |8 by means ofdistribution roll l1 and a seal-back coating of soapstone or somesimilar material applied in any desired manner.

This modified process may be used to produce such a case, as pointed outpreviously, it is preferable to omit the coating pan 32, or drain it ofits contents, and use the lower roll 3| merely as a pressure rollagainst which the stencil 21 and upper roll 29 may bear.

Another modification in the process and arrangement of the apparatus isshown in Fig. 4. In this case, a hollow perforated cylinder or stencil35 is disposed vertically beneath a pressure roll 36. Inside the hollowcylinder or stencil is a coating-roll 38 rotating in a pan 39 of coatingmaterial. The top of the coating roll bears againstthe inside surface ofthe rotating perforated cylinder. As the coating roll rotates within thecoating pan it picks up a layer of coating material and forces itthrough the interstices of the perforated cylinder onto the sheetroofing passing thereover. The perforated cylinder may first be given anapplication of anti-stick solution from roll 40 rotating in supply tank4| to prevent the coating material and roofing from sticking thereto.The coated sheet is directed over rolls 43 and 44 and passes beneathgrit hopper l1 and distribution roll l8 which feed a supply of grit ontothe sheet. The surfaced sheet may then be passed between pressure rolls36 and 45 which partly embed the grit in the coating material and causethe grit to firmly adhere thereto. Since only one side of the sheetroofing is coated in this process, the method is particularly adaptedfor use in applying a design tomineral-surfaced roofing rather than toplain saturated felt.

The present invention makes it possible to use coating material in arelatively viscous condition. This is because the coating material isactually forced through the interstices of the endless belt 'bythetpositive action of the oppositely-disposed pressure or coatingrolls. Asphalt of a melting point from C, to C., and preferably about105 C may be applied at a temperature of from C. to 235 C. and give goodresults. Bitu minous compositions or mastics containing con .process andin the constructions set forth may be made without departing from thescope of this invention, it is intended that all matter contained in theabove description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

claim: 4 The process of applying viscous coating material in apredetermined three-dimensional design in relief constituted of raisedportions of substantial height and depressed portions of substantialdepth to a sheet of roofing material which comprises contacting astencil with the sheet, supplying the viscous coating material to theside of the stencil remote from the sheet and applying pressure toopposite sides of the sheet and stencil, thereby pressing the viscouscoating material through the stencil onto the sheet to fill the stencilto form said raised and depressed portions, said raised portionsprojecting a substantial distance from the surface of said sheet, andretaining the stencil in contact with said sheet until the coatingmaterial has partially hardened.

2. In a process of making ornamental roofing, the steps comprisingstenciling under pressure raised areas of heat liquefied bituminousmaterial of substantial thickness onto a fiat roofing base of sufiicientstrength to remain substantially undeformed during said stencilingoperation, the portions of said roofing base between said areasremaining uncovered by said coating material, applying to the sheet soproduced granular surfacing material and partially embedding saidsurfacing material in the bituminous coating material, whereby thesurfacing material adheres to the raised areas only.

3. The process of forming ornamental design roofing of embossedappearance which comprises coating one entire face of a sheet,simultaneously pressing a liquid coating agent through a stencil ofsubstantial thickness onto the opposite face of the sheet to form saiddesign of embossed appearance constituted of raised portions ofsubstantial height and depressed portions of substantial depth, thedifference in height between said raised portions and depressed portionsbeing substantially equal to the thickness of the stencil, andsubsequently partially embedding granular surfacing material in thecoating material of said raised portions.

4. The process of applying high melting point bituminous coatingmaterial at relatively high temperatures such that the coating materialis liquefied, to sheet roofing in a predetermined relief design bypassing the coating through a stencil which comprises superimposing thestencil on the sheet, supplying the heat liquefied coating material tothe stencil and applying pressure to the stencil, sheet and the coatingmaterial to force the coating material into and to fill the intersticestherein, retaining the stencil in contact with said coating materialforced therethrough until it has partially hardened and simultaneouslyapplying coating material and pressure to the opposite side of thesheet.

5. The process of applying viscous liquid coating material at relativelyhigh temperatures in a predetermined relief design constitutedof raisedportions of substantial height and depressed portions of substantialdepth toa sheet of mineral surfaced roofing by passing the coatingthrough a stencil of substantial thickness onto the sheet, whichcomprises applying a film of anti-stick to the stencil, superimposingthe sheet roofing on the treated stencil, supplying coating material tothe side of the stencil opposite to the sheet and forcing ittherethrough onto the sheet in sufficient quantity to fill theinterstices of the stencil, simultaneously applying pressure to theopposite side of the sheet, retaining the stencil and sheet terial tothe side of the stencil remote from said' roofing sheet in advance ofsaid coating rolls, said coating rolls cooperating to exert pressure onthe stencil and the sheet and to force the coating material through-thestencil onto the sheet, said stencil being constructed of durablematerial capable of withstanding the stresses imposed by the applicationof said coating material.

7. In apparatus for applying plastic waterproofing material in apredetermined design of embossed appearance constituted of raisedportions of substantial height and depressed portions of substantialdepth to a sheet of roofing material, the combination comprising spacedrollers, an endless perforated metallic belt of substantial thicknessadapted to rotate about said rollers, an upper coating roll disposedbetween said rollers and adapted to abut against the face of saidperforated belt, a lower coating roll disposed on the opposite side ofthe perforated belt vertically beneath the upper coating roll and meansfor applying coating material onto said stencil, said coating rollscooperating to apply pressure to said sheet and stencil and to force thecoating material through the interstices of the stencil onto the sheet.

8. In an apparatus for applying coating material in a design of embossedappearance to a sheet of flexible roofing base, a rotating cylindricalstencil of substantial thickness, a rotating coating roll located withinsaid stencil, means for' supplying coating material ,'to the interior ofsaid cylindrical stencil and a second coating roll disposed on theopposite side of the stencil vertically beneath the first coating roll,the second coating roll being adapted to rotate in a pan of coatingmaterial, said coating rolls cooperating to receive therebetween and toexert pressure on the stencil and sheet.

RICHARD A. 'HOLDSWORTH.

